Application denied (within hours)

[Guest]

Yesterday, I filled the 'become an editor' form for the following category, which hasn't been updated for ages: http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Yugoslavia/Travel_and_Tourism/

 

I did everything that was required, and yet I received an email saying that my application had been denied, without any additional comment.

 

Any thoughts?

[apeuro]

What exactly did your rejection letter say? There are several different types of rejection letters, and based on the type you received, you can figure out why you were rejected.

[Guest]

Hello Apeuro,

This is the email I received:

 

Thank you for your interest in becoming an Open Directory Project

editor.

After careful review, we have decided not to approve your application

at

this time. The most common reasons a reviewer will deny a new

application

include, but are not limited to,

 

* Incomplete application. Insufficient information has been provided in

some

fields including reason, affiliation and/or Sample URLs.

* Improper spelling and grammar.

* Sample URLs are inappropriate for the category which one has applied

to

edit. They may be too broad, too narrow, completely out of scope, poor

quality, or in a language inappropriate for the category. All

non-English

sites are listed in the World category. Applications for World

categories

that include sites only in English will be denied. Likewise,

applications

for World categories that include sample URLs in languages other than

the one

appropriate for the applied category will be denied.

* Not properly disclosing affiliations with websites that are, or have

the

potential of being, listed in the category.

* Titles and descriptions of sample URLs (and other information

provided)

were subjective and promotional rather than unbiased and objective. ODP

editors do not rank or write website reviews. ODP editors provide

objective

and unbiased descriptions of websites and their content.

* Self-Promotion. Application which leads us to believe that the

candidate is

interested primarily in promoting his/her own sites or those with which

the

applicant is affiliated. The ODP is not a marketing tool, and should

not be

used to circumvent the site submission process. If this is an

applicant's

motivation for joining, then we ask him/her not to apply. Editors found

to be

inappropriately promoting their own site will be promptly removed.

 

Due to the large number of applications we get every day, we are unable

to

provide personal responses to every application or to respond to

inquiries

about why you were rejected. If a reviewer chose to provide additional

comments to you, they will be given in the "Reviewer Comments" section

below.

 

Your willingness to volunteer is greatly appreciated and perhaps we

will be

able to utilize your talent in the future.

 

Regards,

The Open Directory Project

 

Reviewer Comments:

[sthenbelle]

Miratom,

 

Based on the content of the letter you posted, it looks like you were rejected for the category you due to the actual content of your application.

 

Whilst the reviewer did not provide any comments, this letter is typically sent when either the URLs are not appropriate for the category (they could be affiliate links or links that are specific to a locality level category), the application is not written in correct English, there are many typographical errors on the application, or several of the other reasons listed in the letter.

 

If you are really interested in taking on a category in Yugoslavia, I would suggest applying to a locality level category or sub-category and make sure your application follows the advice given in the "FAQ and General Advice" thread on this board.

[Guest]

Hello sthenbelle,

 

Thank you for your comments. I appreciate someone answering to my post, although I can't agree on what you have said (no disrespect meant) <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

 

I am sure that it has nothing to do with my English, nor with the sites that I listed in my application. They have so much useful information that it is incredible that they are not listed on DMOZ... if you don't believe me, believe the hundreds of people at Lonely Planet that have commented on those web sites, and that use them as reference (I don't know if I am allowed to post URLs on this open forum, so I will not do it).

 

What I do find amazing is that someone has time to reject my application within hours, and yet that same person doesn't have time to update a category... Apparently, the last time it was updated was on May 13, 2002... although I don't see any useful information in the directory... although there is a casino listing... (does make you wonder).

 

After receiving my rejection letter, my first thought was DMOZ (or the people that run it) s****. But hey, everybody makes mistakes occasionally... so I applied to another category (financial services and banks in Yugoslavia) under a different ID. This category BTW, hasn't been updated in ages, and even has links to banks that have filed for bankruptcy in the meantime. I applied, with three sites (3 big banks in Yugoslavia)... and surprise, surprise, my application was rejected... Same letter as the previous one...

 

Now this does make me wonder...

[donaldb]

miratom,

It's hard to comment on why you might have been rejected without having seen the application, but there are many reasons why an application may be rejected. Did you take a look at the first thread in this Becoming an Editor forum called FAQ and General Advice? There are some really good pointers in there about what you should know to become an editor.

 

Was the category maybe too big for a new editor? Were your descriptions written according to the guidelines? Take a look at that thread and read some of the documents that are listed there. After reading some of that stuff you might get a better idea why you were rejected. It's not just about submitting good sites. You also have to be able to describe them properly as well.

 

Hope that helps a bit <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

[apeuro]

Miratom,

 

Here's a thought - maybe applying to the spammiest, most abused categories in the ODP is not inspiring much confidence as to your motivations. If you are so interested in helping your fellow man, perhaps I could interest you in applying to Society/History/By_Region/Europe/Yugoslavia/. It's in need of much more help than the Travel and Financial Services categories.

[Guest]

maybe applying to the spammiest, most abused categories in the ODP is not inspiring much confidence as to your motivations

 

 

I don't know if this is something I should be proud of or not (because spam, after all, is only used in countries where the Internet is used massively), but, even if I wanted to, I couldn't find a spammy site to list in those categories. What else could I, btw, list in those categories? Here are the sites that I listed in my application. Please review them. If you consider them not worthy, or spam, than I do apologize.

 

http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Yugoslavia/Business_and_Economy/Financial_Services/

 

HVB Yugoslavia

http://www.hvb.co.yu

Managed by BankAustria, part of the german HypoVereinsBank Group.

 

Raiffeisenbank Jugoslavija

http://www.raiffeisenbank.co.yu

Internet portal of the austrian bank, includes online banking.

 

Societe Generale Yugoslav Bank

http://www.socgenyu.com

The french bank, operating in Serbia since 1991.

 

(edited to add url of category)

[donaldb]

It's still hard to give you an answer based on only seeing the three web sites and descriptions. Remember that we accept or reject the application based on all of the information that you supplied in all of the fields. All I can say is that you make sure that you read all of the information in that other post I mentioned above, and read the Guidelines.

[giz]

If those were the descriptions on your application then they may not have been quite good enough. There are some differences between your style and what is implied by the guidelines.

 

If there are any descriptions like this in categories you have already looked at, then these are mistakes that should be cleaned up.

[donaldb]

Although writing good descriptions on your application will definitely help your chances for being accepted, it's not the only thing on an application that we look at.